Almost every morning, since Oliver started at Prince Street Elementary School eight years ago, we’ve run into Gary MacDougall, Editor at The Guardian newspaper, on our way up Prince Street to school in the morning. We’ve shared a hello, or a bit of news, and gone on our ways to start our days. I suspect Oliver’s been left with the impression that it’s normal to have almost-daily interaction with the editor of the local newspaper. And surely it should be.
I got to know Gary a little better in recent years as he was instrumental in the establishment of IslandNewspapers.ca– the project simply wouldn’t have happened without his support as a strong believer in the power of the digitized archive of the newspaper as an educational and cultural resource.
Gary’s retiring at the end of this week, we all learned today, and it will be a great loss to the newspaper, the city, and the Island.
I’m going to miss chatting with Gary on the way to school every morning. I sure hope his replacement plans to walk to work.
